In 2003, a man named Steve Bartman became one of the most imfamous people in sports history without ever playing a professional sport. During the 6th inning of a Major League Baseball game (Chicago Cubs versus Florida Marlins) Bartman subconsciously reacted to a foul ball heading his way. However, his interference with the play prevented the Cubs outfeilder to make the play and potentially win the game. As the game carried on, the Cubs began to slowly pull away from winning, almost as if that play alone had cursed them for the rest of the game. Bartman had recieved an excessive amout of abuse, with people cursing at him and throwing food at him as well. Although this was only one mistake, the media quickly popularized it into a sports "scandal".
The media is excellent a making one person a super star. Whether he or she is positively viewed or not, it seems to not serve as important. If this is the case, a person can become a star or an enemy for just about anything and can be known world wide for just the smallest incident. Pertaining to Bartman, the media had no mercy. The critisism news and sports networks gave him was primarily negative and mean. As a result, Bartman's life turned around quickly as he grew as a public enemy. The need for body gaurds and protection against angry Cubs fans was ultimately necessary as Bartman recieved numerous threats to his life. It's unbelievable how people can take such a small incident so seriously and explode negative energy to one person. It's also interesting how the media can feed off of it just to create a spark in our culture.
While browsing the internet, i came across an extremly crude website thats topic was about slavery. The site was based upon the promotion of a video game pertaining to slavery. As peculiar as it was to come across a game about slavery, the concept of game exploring its history seemed interesting to me. To my surprise, the game had no positive attributes at all:
The media has a knack of promoting violence, obsenity, and extreme content with great success. People generally find graphic sex, drugs, and killing quite obscene, but hard to look away from. As inappropriate content finds more and more comfort in the media, it finds comfort in society as well. The freedom of expressing ones beliefs and views through media is treasured, but also greatly abused. There are numerous sources of media such as music, television, the internet, etc. All of which are used to promote and portray popular culture in the U.S. and around the world. However, in certain forms of media, particularly the internet, negative views and beliefs can be popularized and expressed to millions of people with just a click of a button. The internet is a great way to interconnect with people. Most people in the world spend a great deal of time on their computers. Whether its following popular trends, connecting with other people through social networks, or even watching T.V. shows, the internet can be used for just about anything. This is the problem. It's ashame that such a phenomenon could be used to promote degregation and oppresive views to certain people and aspects of life. How could such a valuable innovation be used for anything but productiveness and leisure? The popularity of the internet, and general media, can negatively affect our society if used in a negative manner. But where is the line crossed? Does a limit even exist? Expressing yourself can only go so far. (The game isn't real but still shamefull for its general creation)
The chapter "Women Read the Romance" in the Mass Media class book expresses certain women's views on reading romance novels. It was described as an "escape from reality" or "escape from the daily life as a house-wife", something along those lines. In terms of your lifestyle, i believe theres a variation in your interest in any form of media, including literature, television, movies, etc. The genre of Romance usually has a fairy tale "fantasy" ending between a man and a women. It makes sense that women with relationship problems may prefer to watch this. However, I find all of this interesting in terms of how genres are viewed. Fantasy can help your mind escape from reality, but why is escape always necessar? I find it just as rational to use realistic media as a mental release from the pains of life. Recognizing what the world is really like can help you appreciate your own, and also create a tougher mentality within yourself. I personally enjoy media that revolves around real life scenarios. I find that the acting, singing, writing, etc, is way more interesting and talented. Nonetheless, it seems that fantasy books and movies almost inevitably sell out through all ages of people.
Heres a video clip and link to the movie "Heat" (1995). I wanted to use this as an example because the suspense of this scene and the way it was shot is far from "Fantasy" and more of a reflection of real life. Notice there is no music in the entire scene: www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZL9fnVtz_lc
